Photographic developing apparatus.



PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

P. ABBOTT. PHOTOGRAPHIG DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 26.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 891,391. 'PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908. P. ABBOTT.

PHOTOGRAPHIO DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED 00w. 26,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

q i tmeoa co 5140M for PHILLIPS ABBOTT, OF OYSTER BAY, NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 23, 1908.

Application filed October 26, 1906. Serial No. 340,644.

To all w7mm it may coacem:

Be t known that I, PHILLIPS ABBOTT, a citizen of the United States, anda resident in the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county,

oping Apparatus, of which the to State .of New York,have invented a newand useful Improvement in Photogra hic Develllowing is a specification,"reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1illustrates an edgewise view of an unrolled flexible photographiccartridge film, together with its protective opaque material, or blackpaper; ig. 2 illustrates a vertical longitudinal sectional view of theinvention embodied in a well known form of daylight developingapparatus, parts of the latter being omitted, and parts shown inelevation; Fig. 3 illustrates a View similar to Fig. 1, of

a modified construction of flexible photo-o graphic film, withprotective opaque material; Fig. 4 illustrates a vertical longitudinalsectional view of the invention embodied with a part of the day-lightdeveloping devices and showing cut-off mechanism for separating theopaque material from the sensitized film; certain parts being shownimelevation; Fig. 5 illustrates an elevation of one form of severingdevice for separating the o aque material from the sensitized film; ig.6 illustratesa form of the invention in which the opaque material isautomatically conducted from the interior of the developing machine toits exterior, showing also a receptacle for the discarded opaquematerial,

certain parts bcingvshown in elevation. Fig. 7 illustrates an elevationof one form of developing apparatus embodying the invention, the sidepresented toward the observer being artly broken away the better'todisclose t 1e interior devices. In this figure all of the devicesreferred to'herein are assem bled and illustrated in their co-activearran ement.

F exible photographic film adapted to re ccive a series of exposures andwound upon a spool having flanges at its ends and with I an opaqueprotective covering, are now univcrsally known and used under the nameof photographic film cartridges.

The developing, washing and fixing of exposed film cartridges havc,until recent years, .been carried on in the usual photographic darkroom, preparatory to which the photographic film has been separated fromthe opaque material. Thus the exposed film alone has been subjected tothe operation of the developing, washing and fixing baths.

In recent years socalled dayli ht developing machines for filmcartridges ave been invented and extensively used, in which theexposedfilm having been suitably connected with the o aque material at its thenleading end, was p aced with the opa ue material in a suitable light-tiht receptac e and both together unwound Irom the flanged receivingspool, upon which they were Wound-in the camera during exposure. Thusboth the film and the opaque material were submerged or brought incontact with the chemical fluids necessary for photo raphic developing,washing and fixing. TIiese daylight develo ing machines are at thepresent time use inlarge numbers, but their em loyment is attended withsome serious lsadvantages, among them thefollowing: The opaqueprotective material, which has been necessarily submerged in, or atleast subjected to the operation of the chemical baths, absorbs and thuswastes a lar e percentage of the baths; likewise the was ings from itinjuriously affect the quality of these baths,

so that they quickly become unsuited for fur ther use. Attem ts haveheretofore been made to obviate th moval of the o aque material, thussubjecting the expose sensitized material alone to the action of thechemical baths, but so far as I 'am aware, all such attempts have beenso objectionable for one reason or another, that their use has not beengenerally ado ted.

United States Letters Patent, umber 832,460 dated October 2, 1906, havebeen granted for an im rovement in film cartridges, in which a eadingstrip ofconsider-- able len th has been attached to the free end of thelm which is used to lead the film through the developing, etc., baths,being connected with the mechanism of the developing machine withoutemploying the o aque material at all for this purpose, and a so withoutdanger of exposing any art of the sensitized material to the action 0light.

In the drawings hereof I illustrate one form only in which the inventionmay be ese difliculties by the re .suitable equivalent for that s sentsthe sensitized film. It is attache at' one end, as at B, to the opaqueprotective material C. D is the leading strip for the film A attached toits normally free end, whereby it is unwound and assed through thedeveloping machine. T e opaque material C projects beyond the ends ofthe film proper, as shown at E, E. The leadlng strip D need notnecessarily be so long as the pro ecting end of the opaque material, although I prefer it to be substantially as long.

Referring now to Fig. 2, F is the box or tank of the developing machine,provided with a cover G, which is ada ted to make light-tight connectionwith the ox. It may be hinged or not, as preferred.

H is one of the supports for the cartridge s 001 I. These supports are,as is well unerstood, adapted to lateral adjustment by means of the suporting slideway J, to accommodate spoo s of different lengths.

K is the spool center and L is the axis upon which the spool rotates.

M is the storage reel for the a ron N.

is the reel upon which the apron, together with the film, is wound forthe purpose of subjection to the developing, washing and fixing baths,either within the box F, or being removed therefrom, within a separatesubmerging tank or vessel, as the case may be. This reel is rotated by acrank R (see Fig. 7), the crank being on the outside of the box, as.shown, and the reel removable by withdrawing the crank as in a wellknown form of developing machine.

The apron which 1 have elected to show is of a type commonly used in onewell known form of daylight developing apparatus, in which the woundfilm is to be transferred to a tank adapted to contain the ll( uids. Any

hown may, however, be employed, the specific construction of which willobviously vary, depending upon whether the film is to be developed inthe same box or be transferred to a separate vessel or tank. The apron Nillustrated in Fig. 2 is provided with corrugated edging strips P, whicheffect the desirable separation between its convolutions and also ermitthe free circulation of the developmg, washing and fixing fluids. Thefilm during the act of winding is deposited within the volute-likechamber between the several convolutions or layers of the apron in amanner well understood.

Q is a bar, or e( uivalent device, connected to the center R of the reel0, beneath which bar the end I) of the leading strip 1) is held in amanner well known. The apron is provided on its front end with loops Sadapted to be hooked over bent pins T set in the center R, thus upon therotation of the reel 0, the apron and film are simultaneously wound uponthat reel.

The'end E1 of the opaque protective material has, as shown in Fig. 2,been bent upwardly and outwardly over the upper edge of the adjacent endofthe box, projecting beyond the same. The cover G is now applied uponthe box and secured in place in any suitable manner, with any suitablefastenings. Where it engages however with the u wardly presented edge ofthe box, across wiich the opaque material E extends, both the cover andthe edge of the box are provided with soft, compressible,light-excluding material U. This may be lambs wool, soft plush, or thelike and the area or width of these surfaces is made sufficient to fullyexclude light; andv I prefer to make the lightexcluding material black,or at least dark in color. It should be sufficiently soft and.compressible to completely exclude light at the edges of the strip ofopaque material, irrespective of the width of the latter.

V is a strip of metal which I prefer to attach to the end of the cover,as shown, so that if desired, the opaque material may be readily andconveniently torn off across its edge.

The operation is as follows: The leading strip 1) having been connectedwith the center of the reel 0, as shown, or in any other suitablemanner, and the end of the apron having likewise been connected to thesame center, and the opaque material having been turned outwardly 'sothat its end projects beyond the side ofthe box F, the reel is rotatedin any suitable manner, thus winding up upon it the apron N and theleading strip 1) at first and afterwards the sensitized film A, theleading strip and the film lying loosely in the continuous chamber madebetween the volutes or coils of the apron in a manner well understood,and during, this winding operation, the operator pulls outwardly theopaque material so that it is not wound u )on the reel 0, on thecontrary, it is stripped backward] y and removed from the interior ofthe box as the winding proceeds,'until finally the point of attachmentbetween the film am the 0pm no material, shown at B in Fig. 1, isreached. At this point, if suitable strain be applied upon the opaquematerial, the attachment between it and the end of the film will beruptured, thus freeing the rojecting end E of the opaque material w \ichmay then be drawn outwardly from the apparatus and cast aside, leavingthe end of the film to be wound upon the reel 0; or if the attachmentbetween the opaque material and the film shall prove so firm that thereis danger of rupturing the film, then the opai ue mate rial being pulledout as far as possib e, it may be torn off across the edge of themetallic strip B, or otherwise-severed, whereupon v further turningvof'the reel will draw the small remnant of the opaque material backagain into the box which togetherwith the .terminal portion E thereofwill be wound upon the reel 0. Thereupon the developing, etc. of theexposed film may be effected bysupplying the box F with the appropriatephotographic .baths, or-by removing the reel Owiththe apron and film andterminal piece therefor to be submerged in a separate tankorvessel-adapted to contain the baths.

I It will be noted that since the leading strip D maybe made of materialwhich is not impregnatedflwithcoloring matter and Whichis chemicallyneutral 'to the photographic baths-and since. it and the film aretheonly materials interwound with the apron, provided the describedseparation between the film andthe opaque material has been effected,there will 'be-- no absorption and conse uent waste of the baths nor'any equivalent material-,which may advantage-' degra ation of them byreason of washings from; the opaque material, there being none present;and, even if the-separation referred to has not,been effected,nevertheless a small part only of the opaque material, as comared. withthat ordinarily present, will be brought in contact Withthe baths-andthus there will be a substantial saving and improvement even in thisevent.

In order that the opaque material-:may be disconnected from thesensitized film with absolute assurance,*so that -no part-of it shallbezbrought in contact with the baths,

'1' provide the devices shown in Figs. 3,4,; ,5 and 6, which are asfollows: The parts gen .erally are, or may be the same as above de.-

scribed, and therefore the same reference letters apply. The film A,-however, is pref-i erably= in; this instance connected to the!oplaque-material-at the point B-by a some.' w

at elongated attaching'strip a' of papcrgor ously be aninch-or moreinlength, so that when the film has been nearly all Wound upon thereel 0,this attaching strip a -will be jacent to a cutterb, which maybeneficially be set in asquared bar-=0 mountedupon a Y shaft or suitablebearings 11, provided with a crank 6 (see Fig.55) on the exterior of thebox. The cutter b may be' as shown in Fig. 5, in

which the cutting edge is composed of -iaseries ofsharp pointed andpreferably sharp sided projections or points A relatively stiff spring 9su ported in a suitable support h, engageswit theflattened sides of theknife supporting bar "0, so that when in one position, this spring willtend to press the nife against the attaching stri 0,, thus in-- ducing'the penetration of t 9- points 3 b1 -through it and when by theappropriate action of the crank'e; the cutter 1s tipped vbackwardly ,outof the way, as: shown in dottedlines in Fig. 4, then the spring 9engaging with an adjoining, but different side of.

the squared axis, will tend always to hold the cutter in its retractedposition, so that no accidental engagement with the film will bepossible. The operation of this part of the apparatus is obvious; thatis to say, when the film has reached the appropriate position; which isreadily ascertained by means of the exposure or cutting marks upon theopaque material, as it appears on the outside 'of the box F, then-thecrank e being turned, the cutterwill be tipped over into operativeposition, in which its points come in. contact with the strip and byreason of the continued pull upon t e film' as it is wound up and underthe action of the spring g, the points of the knife will puncture theattaching strip and as the operation continues, it will be completelysevered, as indicated in Fig. 4; when the cutter has reached theposition there shown, its two outside teeth'or end portions will restupon the flanges of the reel 0, and thus the knife Wlll be held fromcontact with the surface of the apron, so that no injury can result tothe latter. severance has taken place, the knife will-be tippedbackwardly and the end of the opaque material, with the remnant of the,attachmg stripv a adhering toit, Will be drawn outwardly through thelight-tight opening 1 or slit between the box and cover and discarded,whereu on. the completion of the winding of the m and of the apronandjthe development ofthe film, either. withinthe --box, or in a searate tank or vessel, may be effected as be ore. -In this way all of theAfter the opaquematerial is. removed and the waste o the'baths and theirdeterioration avoided entirely.

It is not, essential that a special attaching strip arshould be used inconjunction with 'the cutter, becauselhave demonstrated the ,fact that,suchacutter, owingto .the readiness with which it penetrates andsevers; such inaterials, will readily sever "the. film opaque material,

whereby the passes over a littleipulley b"-wliich is laced preferably onthe outside of one of the anges 0f the Winding reel 0, one of whichflanges is ndicated bythe broken line in Fig. 6'. The.

belt. passesupwardly over 'a pulley 0. "upon the s the cover, sothatwhen the cover is applied to the box, a squeezing contact will be.effectaft of a feedingroller d and abovethis IOlleldS anotherroller ewhich is carried by ed between the rollers d and e, the o aque materlallying between: them, whic as stated, has been laid outwardly overv the'rollerd It will be noted that one at least of these rollers should havea yielding face and that the relative size of the pulley 1) upon theshaft of the reel 0, and that of the pulley c is such that the latterwill run more 5 rapidly than the former, thus effecting a constant'pullupon the opaque material, there being necessarily slipping contactbetween the two when the apparatus is in operation. The action of theserollers as is well understood will be to continuously feed forward theopaque material, thrusting it through the light-tight slit between thecover and the upper edge of the end of the box F. l locate the rollersclose to this slit, so that there. may

bebut little length of opaque material between them and the slit, andthus the push upon the opa ue material will project it through the sitwithout its buckling or bending.

The '11 per roller e being upon the cover, and the ower one upon thebox, the operator is not required to adjust the material between themsince they will inevitably be superposed upon one another in the act ofplacing the cover upon the box.

- The pulley b -may be su ported in any preferred manner, but in orr erthat the reel 0 may be removed from the box-if the film,

is to be developed ina separate tank or re i ce'ptacle, ll prefer toattach the pulley to the outside of the flange of the reel, so that itwill come away with it, the removable shaft by Whichthe reel is turnedrunning through an oqening in the center of the pulley. It will also aidin the convenient manipulation of the parts if the belta be ofrelatively unyielding material, as for instance, a little sprocketchain, because if so when readjusted upon the pulley, upon the return ofthe reel to the 40 box for further operation, the belt will aid inproperly registering thecenter of the pulley with the bearing for itsshaft, whereby thelatteif may be more conveniently reintroduced. I

"If the feed rollers above described are used, the necessity for thelight-tight slit between the box and the cover may be avoided by addingat the end of the box a chamber g, preferably provided with a deflectorh, which will turn the forwardly fed end of the opaque materialdownwardly into the chamber. In this construction the cover will becontinuous, covering this chamber as well as the rest of the box, thusdoing away with the light excluding material at the opening between thebox and cover.

It will be obvious to those who are familiar with. this art that theconstruction and arrangement of'parts above described is one form onlyof many in which the essentials of the invention may be embodied. Itherefore do not limit myself thereto except as required by the scope ofthe appended clalms.

. casing provided wit Having described the invention, 1 claim:

1. A photogra hic developing aplparatus embodying a lig t-tight casinginc osing a suitably supported a ron, a reel within the means wherebythe apron and a leading strip for the sensitized material maybe attachedto it, means for the support of a film cartridge likewise with in thecasing, a cover for the casing provided with an opening between it andthe casing through which the opaque material of the cartridges may passfrom its interior to its exterior, means to prevent light from enteringsaid opening and means whereby the reel may be rotated from the exteriorof the casing.

2. A photo ra hie developing apparatus embodying a ig t-tight casinginclosing a suitably supported apron, a reel within the casing providedwith means whereby the apron and a leading strip for the sensitizedmaterial may be attached to it, means for the support of sensitizedmaterial and protective material therefor likewise within the casing, acover for the casing provided wlth an opening between it and the casingthrough which the protective material may pass from its interior to itsexterior, means to revent light from entering said opening an means 'forrotating sald reel.

3. A hotographic developing apparatus embodying a light-tight casing, aree within the casing provided with means whereby an apron and a leadingstrip for the sensitized material may be attached to it, means for thesupport of the sensitized material and protective material therefor, thecasing having an opening through which the protective material may passfrom its interior to its exterior, means to prevent light from enteringthe opening, means to feed the protective material through the openingand means for rotating the reel.

4. A hotographic developing ap aratus embodying a light-tight casing, aree within the casing provided with means whereby an apron and a leadingstrip for the sensltized material may be attached to 1t, means for thesupport of the sensitized material and.

protective material therefor, the casing having an o ening through whichthe protective materia may pass from its interior to its exterior, meansto prevent light from entering the opening, means to feed the protectivematerial through the opening, means for retating the reel and means tosever the protective material from the sensitized material.

5. A photo ra hic developing apparatus embodymg a lig t-tight caslnginclosing a suitably supported a ron, a reel within the casing providedwit means whereby the apron and a leading strip for the sensitizedmaterial may be attached to it, and the apron and leading strip and theentire-length of the sensitized material be wound on the re.el,.

means for the support of sensitized material andprotective materialtherefor, the casing having an opening through which the pro-- tectivematerial may pass from its interior to its exterior, means to preventlight from entering the opening, means to seventhe pro- .tectivematerial from the sensitized material and means for rotating the reel.

6. In a photographic developing apparatus adapted to develop filmcartridges, a.

vices being supported entirely bythe casing,

art of the casing adjacent to the sup orts for the cartridge beingremoved,-thus f brining an o ening through which the protective materiathereof may be removed from the interior-of the casing b bendingitbackwardly above the cartridge, whereby it is prevented from coming incontact with the photographic liquids. I

.7. In a photographic develo ing apparatus adapted to develop socaledfilm cartridges, a casing having a light-tight opening through whichthe protective material of the cartridge may pass and means topositively feed the protective material through said opening. 1 I

8. In'a photographic develo ing appara,

tus adapted to develop so-cal ed film car tridges, a casing having alight-tight opening through which the protective material of thecartridgemay pass and, a air of rotating feed rollers adjacent to theght-tight opening adapted to feed the protective material therethrough.1 v

9. In a photographic develo ing apparatur adapted to develop so-cal edfilmcar-. tridges, a casing having a lightf-tight o ening' through whichthe protective materia ofthe cartridge may pass and a the body of theapparatus and the other upon 1 its 7 cover.

10.111 a photographic develo ing 'apparatus adapted to develop so-cal edfilm cartridges, means to unwind the exposed film and lprotectivematerial from the receiving spoo of (the. camera and to wind the filmupon a reel located within the a paratus and a cutter pivoted near theline 0 travel of the film whereby the film will be severed by the swingof the cutter blade across the line of v travel of the film.

forfthef cartridge through which the protect- .tinuous uncut strip heldfrom contact with the protective material. r l

air of rotating feed rollers adjacent to the ght-tight open: ing adaptedto feed the rotective material .therethrough, one of said -b ereel-provided with means whereby the rollers being upon blade, thecutting edge-whereofis composed i of a series of sharp and thin-pointsall having. substantially the 7 same length adapted to puncturerand cutthe material and means on the exterior of the apparatus whereby thecutter -may be manipulated-. 7 O

12. A'photographic developing. apparatus? comprising a singlelight-tight casing, meanstherein wholly su ported thereby for rotatablysupporting a 1m cartridge, means whereby the entire film may be drawnfromthe cartridge and all of it coiled in separate convolutions orlayers for submission at the same timeto a developing bath, thelcasinghaving an o ening adjacent to. the supports.

ive material maybe removed.

13. Ina hot'ographic develo ing apparatus. adapted to develop so-call edfilm car-I tridges', a single casing or boxpcontaining means forunwinding the exposed film and its, protective material from thecartridge spool and disposing of the entire film in such manner as thatit shall be adapted to machine development all at onetime in a conitselfand means for simultaneously disposing of the protective material byremoving the same upwardly and awa from the apparatus so that it shallnot'be su jected to the photographic baths. I 14. In a photographicdeveloping apparatus a single casing or box containing means to supportan exposed film cartridge and means to protect it from the action oflight also means to unroll the sensitized material and. the protectivematerial from off the cartridge spool, means within the apparatus toreceive and support the film in se arated coils or layers fordevelopment all at t e same time and other means to positively remove 15; In a photographic develo ing apparatus, acasing containing a suitab ysupported a ron, supports for a filmcartridge, a rotatafilm of thecartridge'a'nd the apron may be simultaneously wound thereon and 'alightand light excluding material between the cover and easing, wherebythe rotective material of the cartridge may e withdrawn from the casingwithout admitting light.

17 A photogra hic develo ing a paratus embodying a slug e casing-whichalone contains and supports all the devices for supporting and maniulating the cartridge, a In testimony whereof I have signed my covertherefor and 'ght-exeluding means bename to this specification in thepresence of 10 tween the cover and the casing whereb the two subscribingwitnesses.

. rotective material of the certrid e eing' 5 aid outwardly over theedge of the casing the PHILLIPS B replacement of the cover will enablethe pro- Witnesses: tective material to be withdrawn without ex- JOHN M.LEE,

I posing the film to light. Vmonnr SUU'LLY.

